Contents

History

Before First Curse

When Liam and his brother Killian are still young, their father Brennan takes them aboard a ship so they can travel the world. The two siblings rest in bunkers below deck, and while Liam is asleep, Killian discovers their father missing from the room, although he promised to keep watch over the lantern. In a panic, Killian jumps out of bed and tries to shake his brother awake, informing him what has happened, but a still half-asleep Liam only mumbles an incoherent reply. Soon, Killian discovers that his father sold him and his brother into the ship captain's servitude in order to escape capture for his crimes. ("Swan Song")

Many years later, Liam and Killian continue to be in servitude, working as lowly deckhands cleaning the ship. To gain freedom from their lives as slaves, Liam tries to convinces his brother to join him in the king's navy, where they can become respectable and even rise in ranking. When Killian expresses hopes that Liam will be a captain one day, the ship's Captain Silver mocks him for it and kicks over the brothers' water bucket. Liam then holds back Killian from attacking the captain, who allows Liam to collect his wages while Killian must stay behind. By the next morning, he returns with documents for both himself and his brother to enlist in the navy, however, he finds Killian was tricked into getting drunk and gambling his money away to Captain Silver. Since the captain will only allow Liam to leave alone, he chooses Killian, after tearing up the documents. During a storm at sea, Captain Silver orders the ship to be sailed into the hurricane, because he wants the eye of the storm, a jewel the king will pay handsomely for. Knowing this will doom everyone, Liam and Killian threaten him with a bloody siege if he doesn't surrender. After the captain relents, he is taken hostage, while Liam begins plotting a course to get the ship to safety. In the captain's quarters, Hades offers Liam a deal; let the ship sink and he'll give him the eye of the storm to earn his position as captain. With this, the crew will die, giving Hades new souls in the Underworld, though he promises to keep Liam and his brother from dying. Liam consents to the deal by misleading Killian into thinking their only option is to dive into the eye of the storm and ride things out. He gives Killian his ring, which always helped to lead him home, to symbolize his confidence in the decision. Putting his faith in Liam, Killian then rallies the crew into having hope they will survive. After steering the ship into the storm, the entire crew die, with only the Jones brothers arriving to shore. They are met by a navy officer, whom Liam presents the eye of the storm to, fabricating a story about finding it in the wreckage. Since Liam insists desires a navy commission rather than a money reward from the king, the officer stations both brothers on the Jewel of the Realm, with Liam becoming its captain and Killian as a lieutenant. ("The Brothers Jones")

Sometime after earning his place as captain, Liam is summoned by the king to sail to Neverland and retrieve the plant Dreamshade for medicinal healing purposes. At some point, he is given a sextant, star charts leading to home and back, and a sail woven from Pegasus feathers. Choosing to bring along his brother, Lieutenant Killian Jones, as his right-hand man on the trip, they depart when all preparations are ready. On the journey there, the Jewel of the Realm is attacked by two other vessels, but with the help of the Pegasus feathered sail, the ship glides into the sky to safety. Reaching Neverland, Liam and Killian take a rowboat to shore, where the island's inhabitant, Peter Pan, reveals Dreamshade is actually used for poisoning. While his brother begins to suspect their king has dishonorable intentions with the plant, Liam chooses to ignore Pan's warning. To prove Dreamshade is harmless, he purposely cuts himself with one of the plant's branches and passes out from the rapidly spreading poison. Desperate to save him, Killian accepts help from Pan, who grants access to the island healing spring and warns that neither he or Liam should leave Neverland unless they are willing to pay the price. Not knowing what the boy truly means, Killian cures Liam with the water. Only when the brothers attempt to leave the island, with plans of revealing their king's lie about the Dreamshade, Liam dies, as the price of the cure is he can only stay alive by remaining in Neverland forever. After burying Liam at sea, Killian rallies the ship crew into abandoning their loyalty to their former king in order to live as pirates "with honor" instead. ("Good Form")

Sometime after his death, Liam wakes up in a cave and eventually joins the crew of a passing ship on their way out of the Leviathan Shoals, where the sea monster Leviathan prowls. With the entire crew killed by Leviathan except him, he later chances upon another ship, discovering it is his old ship that Killian has taken over as captain. Killian, pleased to see the brother who he believed to be dead, brings Liam to the captain's quarters to talk about how he survived. In the midst of the reunion, Lewis privately warns Killian about Liam being an illusion made by the Leviathan Shoals' mist, but the latter shrugs off the possibility. To escape the shoals to freedom, the crew of the Jolly Roger lure the Leviathan into attacking while Liam hits the sea monster with dynamite from his own ship. However, this causes Liam's ship to catch fire, and though Killian suggests jumping into the water and swimming onto the Jolly Roger, he refuses out of fear there are more monsters at sea. He begs Killian to put off sailing out of the shoals in order to rescue him, but Lewis finally convinces his captain that this version of Liam is just an apparition because the man they both knew wouldn't be afraid of diving into unknown waters. Under Killian's command, the Jolly Roger sails out of the shoals, leaving Liam to perish on the burning ship. Later, Killian expresses uncertainty to Lewis about whether he left the real Liam behind or not. Hoping to put his brother to rest, Killian then says a prayer to guide Liam's spirit home. ("Out of the Past")

Stuck with unfinished business, Liam goes to the Underworld, where he works as a bartender at the Rabbit Hole. ("The Brothers Jones")

Hundreds of years later, Liam's father Brennan lives on after being freed from a curse. He goes on to have another son he names Liam, in honor of his sons Killian and Liam, both of whom he regrets abandoning. ("Swan Song")

After Third Curse

Reuniting with Killian, Liam catches up with him, learning of how he died. Since Liam doesn't know what his own unfinished business is, Killian believes defeating Hades is the key to letting people move on. Recalling those who tried to overthrow Hades in the past, Liam remembers they spoke of a book, which Emma recognizes is the storybook. Assuming Hades' story in the book will reveal his weakness, they search the apartment for it. Privately, Liam confronts Emma for being selfish by trying to bring him back to Storybrooke, and that once Killian defeats Hades, she should let him move on. Learning the storybook is in the Sorcerer's mansion, David goes to retrieve the key for opening it, while everyone tries to remain casual to throw Hades' off. Threatened by Hades with exposure of his secret, Liam rips out the pages containing Hades' story and tosses them down a well, but he gets ink on his hands from the paper. With Liam's old ring that his brother gave her, Emma tells him that Killian once told her it belonged to a better man than himself. When she accuses him of taking the pages, Killian sides with his brother, believing she is villainizing Liam to prove he himself is less of a villain. Once Emma leaves, Killian sees the ink on Liam's hand, and he soon finds out why Liam lied, after Captain Silver and his crew show up to kidnap them. The captain wants revenge on Liam by damning him and Killian into the fiery abyss, but Hades pushes the captain in instead, having his own plans for the Jones brothers. Hades prepares to punish Hook in the same manner, but because of Liam's meddling, he sends Liam into the fire. Killian manages to grab onto his brother, who insists he has to pay for letting those sailors die. Liam then falls to his fate, but then, the abyss turns into an ocean, with him landing in a boat. Realizing this is the sacrifice he should have made then, Liam comes to terms with his finished business. With a changed opinion of Emma, he encourages Killian to not push her away, since she wants the best for him. Praising him for being the hero he never could, Liam bids him a final goodbye, before he and the remaining crew leave for Mount Olympus. ("The Brothers Jones")